It came down to the lean.
With 55 meters to go, Michigan sophomore Penelopea Gordon took the outside path around Penn State’s Madaline Ullom and Minnesota’s Brooke Jaworski. As the three blazed across the finish line, they were separated by less than two-tenths of a second; but after all three crossed in sync, Gordon took second, with a time of 2:06.23.
For Gordon, the second-place finish was good for a new PR, the seventh-best 800m time in the country this season and eight points for the Michigan women’s track team. Her eight points set the tone as the Wolverines accumulated 138 total en route to a decisive victory at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational.
“I had a personal best so I’m really happy with how the race went,” Gordon said. “It was a great competition and a good finish overall.”
Although Gordon set the pace, Michigan as a whole outshined its Big Ten competitors Penn State, Minnesota, Michigan State and Purdue. The Wolverines were stellar across the board, earning a top-four finish in every race, which led to a comfortable 21-point victory.
“In a scoring meet you’ve got to have great competitors,” Michigan coach Kevin Sullivan said. “It’s not all about how fast or how far, it’s about trying to compete against the person next to you, and I thought we did a really nice job of that today.”
The Wolverines’ distance runners in particular came ready to compete as junior Samantha Hastie took first place with a 4:45.07 in the 1-mile run. Freshman Rylee Tolson set a personal record of 9:29.85 and finished third in the 3000m run, while senior Samantha Saenz won in the 3000m with a 9:28.93. Saenz felt comfortable, leading wire to wire, and winning by nearly a second.
“Some people were trying to make moves with three laps to go and I responded really well,” Saenz said. “I thought I finished strong.”
Michigan’s field efforts were headlined by the reliable junior Riley Ammenhauser. Ammenhauser, who set the school record in the triple jump at the Simmons-Harvey in 2023, finished second in the long jump with 5.62m and third in the triple jump with 12.58m behind senior teammate Nadia Saunders.
As the meet wound to a close, the 4x400m relay team took home third place, running 3:44.20. While their competitors from Minnesota ran over five seconds faster, it was a season-best mark for the Wolverines and something Saenz felt the Wolverines could grow on.
“After last year we all know we have a championship team and we have a championship mindset,” Saenz said. “It’s going to lead into a good Big Ten (season).”
At the Simmons-Harvey Invitational, Michigan was presented with an opportunity: take control of a crowded field of Big Ten programs. The Wolverines took a step towards seizing that opportunity Saturday, showed their championship mindset and solidified themselves as a program poised to make a run at the conference championship.
Last year, Michigan captured both Big Ten indoor and outdoor titles, and Hastie thinks Michigan can, “definitely win another championship.”
And after the first scoring meet of the indoor season, the Wolverines are one step closer to running it back.